Control valve



R. D. McLEoD CONTROL VALVE JulyA 28, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed DSG. 7, 1946 FIERE.,

July 28, 1953 R. D. MCLEOD y 2,646,820

CONTROL VALVE Filed Dec. 7, 1946 4 Sheets--Sheei'I 2 A TTGRNEYS R. D. McLEoD CONTROL VALVE July 28, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 7, 1946 FI E. E1.

/ KHAUSI' PRCSSUKE FIG-.7.

IN V EN TOR. /Vc Lead A TTOPNEYS July 28, 1953 R. D. MCLEO 2,646,820

CONTROL VALVE A rrak/VEX;

Patented July 28, 1953 CONTROL VALVE Roy D. McLeod, Detroit, Mich., assignor of twothirds to William Carls, Milford, Mich., and one-third to Sophia Louise Brussel and Detroit Trust Company, coexecutors of Fred H. Brussel,

deceased Application December 7, 1946, Serial No. 714,735

claims.

This invention relates to a control valve for fluid pressure. It is an object of the invention to lprovide a self-contained valve in a single housing ready for attachment to air pressure and motor ports for the control of a duid motor.

Another object is the provision of a valve housing readily adaptable .to a single pressure or double pressure in the operation of a multiple port motor and a means for reversing the olf-cycle pressure bias by changing the relative position of the valve housing parts.

' A further object is a valve construction which will permit extremely rapid operation with a solenoid control, the parts being arranged to prevent any out-of-phase relation. This is accomplished byutlizing actuating pressure on only one control side in a cycle, the other control side of the valve being actuated by the escape air from the off-side of the actuated motor.

Additional objects are the reduction of total parts, elimination of packing, reduction of .air travel through the valve, reduction in wearing parts, and elimination of springs.

Other objects will be apparent as the description progresses.

vIn the drawings, treating Figure 1 as a vertical position for the valve:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the valve showing the operating valve parts.

lFigure 2 is a horizontal section-on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Figure 1. Y,

Figure 4 is a vertical section parallel with the section of Figure 1 but behind it and viewed from the rear in a direction shown by arrows on line 4-4 of Figure 3. y

Figure 5 is a viewof a partial vertical section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

.Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 withthe parts in reverse actuation.

Figure '7 is a horizontal section on line 1-1 of Figure 1 viewing the bottom surface of the top closure housing.

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic presentation of the central operating valve.

Figure 9 is a View similar to Figure 8 with parts in reverse actuation.

.Figure 10 is a partial section on line `I|l--||l of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a partial section on line of Figure 8.

Figure 12 is a plan view of a portion of the housing comparable to Figure 3 showing a variation in form.

To describe the general plan of the housing briefly, a main housing A rests on a base housing B and is covered by a closure housing C'. As the now made to Figure 4, it will be seen that the exhaust chambers are connected through a cored passage leading to an exhaust outlet in the base B. Each cylinder porir leads downward to a cylinder outlet in the base B. v

Now taking up the parts in more detail, the base B is a casting, as shown in plan-in' Figure 3,

provided with an air inlet leading to chambers 2| and 22 which, in operation, are connected to a constant source of fluid pressure. The septum or `division wall 23 is originally cast into` the housing between chambers 2| and 22. When chambers 2| and 22 are to be sub-ject to the samev pressure, the pressure inlet 20 is drilled into the housing to remove a portion of the septum 23,`

thus connecting chambers 2| and 22. When it is desired to subject chambers 2| and 22 to different pressures, separate taps will be made into each chamber leaving the septum 23 intact. See

Figure 12. A central portion 25 in housing B serves as a lbottom support for a control valve tobe described later. It is ported at 25 for exhaust air. Base B has two cylinder chambers and 3| with cylinder outlets 32 and 33 tapped in at the bottom. A central chamber -is for exhaust air and has a tapped outlet 36. `The outlets inthe chambers 30, 3|, and 35 may be placed in the side of the housing if desired and the bottom ports plugged. Lugs L serve to hold the valve base in position. f

The main housing A has two operating valve -cylinders or bores, the lower ends of which may be represented by reference characters and' 'I'he upper ends, which are of slightly larger 4|. diameter, are designated respectively 58 and 5|. In the lower bores 40 and 4| are slidable poppets and' 46. slidable poppets 55 and 56. In bores 4i! and 4| are ports E0 and 6 I, respectively, spaced upwardly from the bottom of the bores. These are cylinder ports which connect to chambers 3S and 3| -as shown in Figure. 4. In the larger bores and- E'ach sido bore opens to a' In the upper bores 56 and 5| are- 5I are ports 'l0 and 1| which are exhaust ports connecting to a cored passage 'l2 leading downward to form a T-shaped chamber with the exhaust passage of the base B, Figure 4. In housings A and B, septum walls '|3 separate the T--shaped chamber 72-35 from cylinder outlet chambers 39, 3|. Bolts 'i4 hold housing A on the base B. Thus the chambers 3i), 3| lie directly below the bar of the T of the exhaust chamber.

The cover plate C is provided with two ports or chambers '|5 and 'l5 aligned with bores 5B and 5|, Figures 1 and 7. These chambers 'i5 and may be called operating chambers since they receive air under pressure to actuate poppets 55 0r 56. Also supported on the cover plate C is a solenoid Shaving a plunger P which actuates the stem of a control valve K slidably mounted in a central bore of the housing A. Bolts 'il hold housing C in place on housing A.

The poppets and l5 are shiftable to an open position where they rest on a small pedestal 89 in base B, and to a top closed position where a neoprene ring 8| serves to seal the valve bore from the pressure chamber in the base. rEhese lower poppets are spool shaped and have guiding portions for the valve bore; each has an axial passage and is provided with side ports to permit air to pass through it from pressure chambers 2| and 22 to the ports 6B and |5| when in the open position, and from pressure chambers 60 and 5| to exhaust chambers 'l and di when in the upper 0r closed position. The slidable poppets and 5S in the larger bore? 56 and 5| each have a neoprene disc 82 in the lower face to cooperate with the poppets l5 and i5 to. close the axial passages of the latter poppets as shown in Figures 1 and 6.

Thus far there has been described a control valve for a double ended motor commonly called a l-way valve. With the parts shown in the position of Figure 1, pressure can pass from chamber 2|, as shown by the solid arrows, to the cylinder port 69 and out through the passages 3B and 32 of base B to one end of a motor. Meanwhile, exhaust air in the other end of an operated motor will enter passages 33 and 3| of base B as shown by the dotted arrows and pass to port 5| where it enters the axial passage of poppet liv leading to port and the exhaust passages l2 and 35,V

Figure 4. When the parts are in the reverse position, a reverse action will take place as illustrated by the solid arrows showing pressure and the dotted arrows showing exhaust flow in Figure 6.

The valve assembly above described for purposes of illustration is a pilot-operated valve, although it could be a manually-operated valve. In the pilot operation, the valve K previously referred to as actuated by solenoid S, serves to direct pressure selectively to actuating chambers |5 or 'lr6 where it acts on the top surfaces of poppets 55 or 55 to shift them downwardly, thus causing actuation of the respective poppets 45 or 46 below the actuated poppet. Since poppets` 55 and 55 are larger in effective diameter than poppets 45 and d5, this movement will take place against the pressure in chambers 2| or 22. The valve K is shown in fullsection in Figures 8 and 9 where a diagrammatic View of the housing is presented to facilitate explanation. |The housing 90 has a straight cylindrical bore 9| with a sidepressure, inlet opening 92 `and two operating ports 93 and 94. A valve spool having suitable guiding lands is tted in the bore 9i and isr provided with a central bore extending from the bottom upward into the operating stem 95. Within the central bore of valve K are two squaresectioned plungers 96 and 91 (Figure 1l) one at each end of the bore, and between them, mounted with lost motion on a pin 98, is a small spool 99 provided with an axial passage |00. Neoprene rings |5| serve to provide a sliding seal around the spool 99. A stem |92 on the bottom of plunger 96 limits its downward movement and consequently when valve K is shifted downwardly as shown in Figure 8, a neoprene ring |53 is lifted away from a port opening lli1 and a neoprene insert |05 may contact the lower end of spool 99 to close the axial passage |90. Mean- While, with the valve K in its down position, the stem on plunger 91 is freed to permit neoprene ring E96 to shift against a seat |01 in a manner to be later described to close the top axial passage. A neoprene insert |08 in plunger 9T is thus spaced from the upper end of passage |59 in spool 99 permitting pilot air to pass from ing outlet 93. of valve K.

n the reverse position when stem S5 Vis movedl upward by the solenoid, a pin H5 shown in Figure 10 extending transversely through stem 95, serves as an upper limit stop for stem on plunger 9T. This moves the neoprene ring |95 away from the seat I and permits exhaust air to pass from port 93 around plunger 91, which has a cross section as shown at Figure 11, to an outlet port ||2 in stem 95 and thence around the stem to atmosphere. Meanwhile, pilot airv has entered the central passage 95 of spool 99 and passes down around plunger 96 to outlet 94, the neoprene ring |03 being seated against the port opening |94. Ring |5901 seals the lower land of valve K.

Actually, in operation, the pressure from' the inlet port 92 accomplishes the sealing between the stems 95 and 91 and the respective ends of spool 95. The shifting of the stem- 95 opens either port |94 or port |61. The rush of air under pressure toward such open port innnedi-v ately tends to force the spool 99 against the particular plunger which is held open, and the other plunger is forced by pressure to a closed position. Thus the mechanical movement simply serves to open one plunger and the `air does the rest of the operating of the valve. This makes for the very rapid change of partl position which is possible whenthe solenoid is operated at hundreds of cycles a minute. Furthermore, a valve K need be moved only a fraction of an inch to be effective. Consequently the solenoid travel is small. A distance of 1/8 or less isv sufficient.

The valve K shown in Figures 1 and 6 is identical with that shown in Figures 8 and 9'. Pres- Taking up now the operation lof* the entire-l unit, when the solenoid is de-energize'd, the

Port 92 feeds they 256 will be explained weight of the plunger P will carry valverKdown'v tothe position of Figure 1.v Pressure from chamber 2| Willfollow passage |5`llto port 92 where it is directed by valve K in the position of Figure 8 to port 93`and passages |53, |54 to chamber'15 where 'it exerts pressure 'on the top of poppet 55 and moves this poppet andthe poppet 45 to the down position. "Pressure: loan then passy `from chamber 2|' to cylinder'port 60 as previously described. When'th'e solenoid is energized, valve K will be moved up 4to the position shown in Figures `6. and 9 and then pressure from chamber 2 |gfollows passage |50 to port 92 and is distributed by valve K to port 94'and passage |5l, |52 to chamber 16. This will shift the right-hand assembly as shown in Figure 6 downward.

Meanwhile pressure from the cylinder port 60, which is connected to the exhaust end of a double ported motor, will explode into the valve passing into the axial chamber of poppet 45, and being of sufficient force to split the poppets 45 and 55 will permit the exhaust pressure to go to port 1l) and out of the valve through passages 12 and 35. Pressure on the top of poppet 55 is, of course, relieved through valve K so that this a-ction may take place. Poppet 45 is moved upward by pressure in chamber 2| to close that chamber as soon as pressure on the top of puppet 55 is relieved.

It will be seen that only one side of the valve is actuated by live pressure at any one time as distinguished from some pilot-operated valves in which one control side is actuated in one direction while the other control side is actuated in the reverse direction. In the applicants design, there is no possibility of out-of-phase movement in rapid operation since the exhaust air from the motor actually finds its own way out of the valve by shifting the parts on the exhaust side. It will be seen further that a very small amount of pilot air can control the relatively large size poppets and that the entire unit is adaptable to rapid operation.

A further feature of the construction ties in with the showing of Figure 12 where two separate inlet ports for pressure are disclosed to chambers 2| and 22. In some operations, it is desirable to use two different pressures on a motor one pressure at one end and one pressure at another. Applicant can produce this effect by using the double ported base shown in Figure 12 with the separated pressure chambers. High pressure is always put in the left-hand chamber so that it will feed to passage |50 of the pilot valve.

When the parts are as shown in Figure 1, during the olf-cycle of the solenoid when valve K is down, pressure is directed to cylinder port 50. If it is desired that this off-cycle pressure be directed to the other cylinder port 6|, the housing C may be switched 180 from the position shown in Figure 1. If reference is made to Figures 2 and 7, it will be seen that the passage |52 coincides with the end of passage |5| when the parts are assembled and passage |53 registers with passage |54. The symmetrical passage |56 has been described with reference to passage |53. A passage |5|a symmetrical with passage |51 is also shown in Figure 2. If the housing shown in Figure '7 is shiftedv 180, then passage |52 will register with passage |5|a and passage |54 will register with passage |55. Since passage |53 will then have a blind end, the pressure directed through valve K in the atrest position will then go to chamber 16 instead of 15 and the valve will be actuated in reverse,

6 s. the Apassage |5|a assuming the function previously performed by passage |5|.

Reference is made to my copending application, Serial No. 714,736, filed December '7, 1946, now Patent No; 2,588,552, granted March 11, 1952, which discloses and claims the valve shown in Figure 8 vof this disclosure.

What I claim is:

1 "A valve and housing combination compris- Y ing a mounting base 4to which all pipe connections will be made',said base comprising a block formed in the remainder of the block accessible for pipe connections from side walls and the bottom'of the b1ock,"a four-way control valve housing associated with said base comprising a body having a T-shaped exhaust chamber opening at the stem of the T to the central chamber of the three spaced chambers of the base, cylinder chambers formed below the bar of the T-shaped chamber on either side of the stem 1ying in registration with the end two chambers of the three spaced chambers in the base, valve bores in said body on either side thereof and ports formed in the walls of said exhaust chamber and said cylinder chambers to connect to said valve bores, said valve bores extending to said pressure chamber in the base block, and means removably connecting said block and housing in air-tight relation whereby cylindrical valve means in said bores may selectively connect said cylinder and exhaust chambers and said pressure and cylinder chambers.

2. A valve and housing combination as defined in claim 1 in which additional valve bore centrally of the valve housing houses a control valve to direct actuating pressure to the control valve bores to shift valves in said bores to the selective positions, passages being formed in said .housing to direct pressure from the block base to the additional bore and thence to the respective control valve bores.

3. A valve and housing as defined in claim 2 in which a raised island portion in the pressure chamber is positioned below the additional valve bore to provide an exhaust outlet for said additional bore and a supporting stop for a valve in said additional bore.

4. A fluid control valve comprising a housing having a cylindrical bore and having formed in the walls of said bore three enlarged, spaced ports to create between said ports two internal lands, said ports comprising respectively a pressure port, an operating port and an exhaust port in that order along said bore, an operating valve movable axially from one extreme position to another in said bore having three spaced, external lands, two of which, adjacent one end, are slidable in sealing relation with said internal lands of said bore, and the third land, located within said pressure port, serving in one position to seal said pressure port from said cylinder port, said valve having an open center passage leading to one end of the bore opposite the pressure port and communicating with the walls of said valve between said external lands, said passage serving to connect an adjacent pair of said spaced ports alternately and selectively in the two positions of the valve, an operating member in the end of said bore opposite said pressure port axially shiftable in sealing relation within said boren and a resilient insert in said operating member at the valve end thereof to Contact the open end of said operating valve member to close the same While shifting the valve member to one of its positions, the valve being shiftable to and maintained in the other of its positions by pressure in said pressure port.

5. A combination as defined in claim 4 in which a. resilient O-ring surrounds the pressure port land of said valve to serve as a shock absorber and seafl for seid valve as it moves to close the pressure port from the cylinder port.

ROY D. MCLEOD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES, PATENTS Number Number Number Name Date Forker Oct. 21, 1930 Renkenberger Oct. 26, 1937 Herman May 14, 1940 Camerota Aug. 13, 1940 Stumpf Oct. 22, 1940 Herman Mar. 10, 1942 Trautman June 1, 1943 Van Der Weri Jan. 15, 1946 McClure July 23, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland of 1931 

